Ten Weeks Ago:
Feeling bright sundays on her face, Sarah groaned to herself. Cussing herself for forgetting to close the blinds last night, she rolled over to lie on her stomach to avoid the light flowing through the window. As she turned over she felt herself rolling into something.
Slowly opening one eye, letting her eye sight get used to the bright morning light, she realized she had company. None other than Pete Dunham was lying beside her, sleeping heavily.
The events of the evening prior came back to her; the burglars, Pete beating them, the police, Terry, walking home with Pete, ending up sleeping with him.
Covering her face with her hands she groaned and fell back into the madras. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she repeated to herself in her head. She had slept with Pete Dunham. The Pete Dunham who was known for sleeping with random girls and never talking to them again.
During the two years that Sarah had known the blonde, he'd mostly had flings with different girls. No one had stuck around for too long. Well, Bridget had been the exception, but she was a nutcase. So it might have been better if she hadn't stuck around.
Suddenly a loud ringtone echoed through the room. Recognizing the sound, Sarah swore quietly as she swung her legs over the bed and sitting up, looking around the room for her phone. Finding the jeans she'd worn lying in a heap on the floor by the door, she stood up, wrapping the white sheet around her before walking over there and picking them up. Rummaging through the pockets she found her vibrating and loud-sounding phone in her back pocket.
Glancing at the display before answering a small smile spread across her lips. "Morning dear" she said as she tried to sneak out of the room without waking the sleeping man up. He looked so calm, so peaceful, and she didn't want to disturb him.
"Sarah, I need your help, like now. Henry's mum is a bloody nutter" Megan exclaimed, clearly upset with her future mother-in-law.
Sarah forced herself to hold in the chuckle that threatened to spill out of her mouth, knowing that it would only upset her friend further. "Why? What has she done this time?" Sarah asked.
Since the engagement between her friends had been officially announced, Eleanor Hart, had taken it upon herself to serve as the wedding planner. Something that annoyed Megan to no end, especially since their opinions didn't match most of the time.
"Well, we are going to the tailor's today to have a fitting, and she insists on coming. I even made Henry book her up so that she couldn't come with. She ended up canceling her appointments so that she could attend. And she has these horrible suggestions, and takes offense when I tell her that they really aren't my style. I mean nothing I say or do pleases her. I don't know what to fucking do to make her happy. I'm already knackered enough with work and planning the wedding and all that. Honestly, I just want to tell her to sod off" Megan said, raising her voice through out the explanation.
"Well, that probably wouldn't please her" Sarah said with a slight smile on her lips.
"Why are you whispering?" Megan questioned suspiciously, having been too caught up with her own business to notice it at first.
"I'm not whispering" Sarah retired. Even though she was on the other end of the line, and there was no way for Sarah to see her, she knew that Megan was rolling her eyes at the answer.
"You bloody well are" Megan told her. "Blimey, did you have yourself a good shag last night?" Megan asked, realizing that the only explanation for her friend's whispering was that she wasn't alone.
"I might have" Sarah replied slyly.
"About bloody time, you would have exploded with sexual frustration within a few days" her friend told her knowingly.
"Whatever, but what did you really need my help with, Meg?" Sarah asked.
"Can you please, please come with me to the dress shop today, to give me advice and stop me from murdering my mother-in-law?" Megan asked, sounding desperate for a yes.
"Yeah, no problems. Just don't make me try on any of the dresses. I can plan the wedding, but I do not want to play the bride" Sarah told her seriously. She knew her friend. When Megan found out who it was that she had slept with, which she would find out through nagging Sarah for the details, she would be overjoyed and demand that Sarah tried on wedding dresses. Megan was a wonderful friend, but sometimes she could be a tad bit too forward. It was all done with love though.
"Oh, you're such a bore, but alright I won't force you to try them on. Maybe just one" Megan said slyly.
"None" Sarah demanded.
The line went quiet for a moment or two. "Fine, none" Megan agreed reluctantly.
"When are we heading over there?" Sarah asked, swirling a lock of her curly hair around her finger.
"I'll pick you up in an hour, yeah?" Megan asked.
Sarah quickly assessed the time it would take for her to get dressed, take the tube back home and change. An hour sure as hell wouldn't cut it. "I'll text you the address in a little while, alright" Sarah stated. Through the phone she could hear her friend laughing.
"You do that, you wild little shit" Megan said before hanging up the phone.
Shaking her head at her outspoken friend, Sarah headed back towards the bedroom. Pushing the door open carefully as to not make a sound to wake the man sleeping, she sneaked inside.
"This happens all the time. I shag a bird and the next morning she's already planning the weekend"
Not expecting him to awake she jumped at the sound of his voice. Swirling around she glared at him. "Fucking hell, you scared the shit out of me, Pete!" she exclaimed making him laugh. "And there's no wedding planning going on, at least not a wedding including me as the bride" she told him as she walked over to the bed sitting down on the side of it.
"That's what you're saying now, just you wait" he said with a wink before leaning forward, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her back towards him.
Sarah didn't mind, lying down with her back against his chest. "We'll see about that, Dunham" she said with a smile.
A smirk spread across Pete's lips as he glanced down at the woman in his arms. "You wanna make a bet, love?" he asked.
Sarah turned around raising an eyebrow at him. "A bet, huh?" she asked him, entertained by the idea.
Pete nodded. "I can get you to say yes to marrying me within three months" Pete claimed.
Giving him a disbelieving look, Sarah shook her head. "There is no way I'm saying yes to marriage within three months. Not a fucking chance" she told him.
"I'll take that as a challenge, Lorenz" Pete told her confidently.
"You do that, Dunham" she responded, equally confident. "So what does the winner get?" she questioned.
Pete looked thoughtful for a minute. "I don't know, we'll decide that along the way, yeah?" Pete asked.
Sarah shrugged. "Sure why not" she replied. Sarah laid down, resting her head on his bare chest.
"Who was that on the phone?" he asked.
"It was Meg. Apparently her mother-in-law is a nutter" Sarah explained quoting her friend.
"Which means Megan will fit in perfectly in her new family" Pete commented making Sarah laugh.
Of course she loved her friend dearly, but she agreed with Pete, Megan could be a bit crazy at times. That's one of the things that Sarah appreciated the most with her because Megan could always make her laugh. "Well, yeah" Sarah said in agreement making both of them burst out laughing.
Sitting on the soft cushion, Sarah sighed. For the last ten minutes Megan and Eleanor had been discussing whether the waist should be defined or not. After listening for a minute or two she had stopped listening allowing herself some time to think things through.
Honestly she had no idea what was going on between her and Pete. Sure, for the two years they'd known each other they had always flirted back and forth. Over time the two of them had become good friends, much like her and Bovver, and he'd always been there when she'd needed him.
Last night and this morning things just felt natural between the two of them, there was no awkwardness, which surprised Sarah. For some reason she had expected it to be. It should have been awkward, shouldn't it?
Before she left his apartment, Pete had asked her to come to the match with him and the boys the next day. Growing up around football, Sarah enjoyed watching it a lot. Would it be weird though? With the other boys. Groaning quietly to herself she imagined the smirk on Bovver's face once he found out. She'd never hear the end of it.
"Sarah, what do you think dear?" the question was directed towards her by Mrs. Hart.
Looking up at her friend and the older woman standing in front of her, she glanced at Megan. Fortunately Mrs. Hart had her back turned towards Megan as her friend started gesturing towards her. Clearly, Megan wanted to have a defined waist line while Mrs. Hart preferred it loose.
Tilting her head slightly to the side, Sarah pretended to think about it. "Honestly, I prefer the wait defined. Especially since Megan actually has a defined waist naturally" Sarah explained siding with her friend, although she actually agreed with her friend for real too. The dress would look amazing on her with that defined waist, creating some curves.
"Oh, alright then" Mrs. Hart said, clearly unpleased with the answer she'd received. "Well, I'll be back in a few moments" she said heading towards the back where the restrooms were located.
Megan and Sarah exchanged looks, but waited for her to disappear into the hallway leading to the restrooms. "Thank you!" Megan whispered, clearly grateful for the support.
"No worries" Sarah said with a smile.
A smirk spread across the full lips of Megan. "So you're gonna tell me about the lad from last night?" she asked raising an eyebrow, her eyes glittering with excitement.
Her friend was such a gossip, Sarah thought to herself, before shrugging her shoulders. "There isn't much to tell" she said teasing her friend.
"Oh stop, it must have been someone from the pub right? 'Cause you were working last night so it couldn't have been a date or something like that, right" Megan reasoned.
Sarah shrugged her shoulders, smiling as she saw the frustration growing in her friend.
"Do I know who he is?" she questioned.
"Maybe" Sarah replied slyly.
"Come on , who the bloody hell is it?" Megan said, racking through her brain of possible sharing mates for Sarah. "Blimey, it's Pete Dunham, isn't it?" she asked her dark eyes growing wide at the realization.
The look on her friend's face made Sarah burst out laughing.
"Bloody hell, so he finally managed to chat you up. He's fit as hell so I don't blame you for shagging him" Megan said loudly.
Sarah shushed her, blue eyes widened by her friend's loud words. "Not so loud, Meg" she told her friend.
Choosing to ignore her friend, who she deemed too prude for her own good, Megan continued her interrogation. "So was he a good shag or not, a good one, wasn't he? That lad knows what he's doing" Megan reasoned.
"He was alright" Sarah said nonchalantly. The two women looked at each other before they both burst out laughing.
"Alright my arse, he probably was bloody brilliant judging by the glow you're surrounded by" Megan stated.
"Stop it. I'm not glowing. There's now glow over here" Sarah laughed before gesturing down at herself.
"The hell there isn't. You're bloody glowing, like a only recently shagged woman can glow" Megan claimed.
"Whatever, if you say so, Meg" Sarah laughed. "Oh by the way, do you have any West Ham stuff I could borrow for the game tomorrow. Pete invited me to go with him and the boys. Like a t-shirt or a cap or anything like that" Sarah asked.
"Taking you the match with the boys, is he? That lad fancies you" Megan commented. "I do have a t-shirt that says 'I Wanna Shag Anton Ferdinand" lying around somewhere. I could rummage through my closet and find it for you. But it might have some blood stains on it" her friend explained.
Giving her friend an odd look, Sarah shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks"
Groaning loudly Sarah threw the book she'd been reading across the room, hitting the wall. The sudden sound of the book hitting the wall made the man lying beside her on the sofa watching some sports program, jump slightly. "Bloody hell! What was that for?" he exclaimed, looking at her with a confused look. A small smile spread across his lips as he noticed the small pout upon her face.
"Because the author of the book is a fucking stubborn, dickheaded piece of shit" Sarah exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands up in the air.
When she didn't receive an answer, she glanced to the side and saw Pete with his eyebrows raised and an entertained smirk. "At least someone is entertained by the whole thing" she stated.
Pete let out a low chuckle before encircling her with his arms and pulling her back towards him. Holding her close to him, he nuzzled his head into her thick, curly hair. "What did the wanker do to make you so angry?" Pete asked, wanting to know the history behind the throwing of books.
"Well, to make a long story short. He teaches German, which I speak and write fluently, but he still complains about my pronunciation and grammar. I speak the bloody language fluently, I lived there for five years, but apparently my grammar is not at an acceptable level. What a load of bullshit. Now he's forcing me to read this book that he wrote on the German language. If I do not pass an exam on this book, I won't receive the highest grade. Which I bloody deserve" Sarah ranted angrily.
Pete listened to her carefully, nodding every once in a while. "Want me to beat seven shades of shit out of him?" he asked, seriously.
Knowing that he could very well mean it, Sarah shook her head. "Nah, that's alright. Even though he's an asshole, I don't think he deserves a beating from the notorious Pete Dunham just yet" Sarah commented.
"Just say the word, love" Pete said making the woman in his arms smile.
"I'll remember that" Sarah said before turning around, straddling the man on the couch. Leaning in she kissed him, as his hands travelled up under the white tank top she was currently wearing, stroking her soft skin. Moving on from his mouth, Sarah begun kissing her way down his jaw, down his neck.
Suddenly a loud vibration sounded through out the room, and a few seconds later the tune of 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' came on. Sarah groaned as she pulled back from the kiss.
"Fuck" Pete swore as he reached over Sarah towards the table and grabbed his phone. Flipping it open, he begun talking.
Giving him some space to talk to whoever it was that was calling, Sarah pushed herself off his lap. Walking into the kitchen she opened up the fridge grabbing a cartoon of milk. Pete being slightly taller than her, had placed all the cups on the top shelf, forcing her to stand on the tip of her toe to even have a fair chance of reaching them. "Scheisse" she swore under her breath.
Just as she was about to reach a cup, a hand reached out and grabbed the cup. "I would've reached it" she said with a smile as she slowly turned around and came face to face with Pete.
"Here you go, love" he said handing her the cup.
"Thanks" she said, turning around once again to pour the milk.
Feeling his arms sneak around her waist, she smiled and took a gulp of the milk. "The boys and I are having some drinks down at the Abbey" he told her.
"Give them my love" Sarah told him.
"I will, and by the way just read the book and forget about Professor what's-his-name" Pete told her.
"Grayson. Professor Grayson" Sarah informed him.
"Who?" he asked once again.
"Grayson" she responded.
"Who?" he questioned, swirling her around so that they once more stood face-to-face, mere inches apart. Looking straight into her eyes, he asked her once more. "Who?"
Sarah sighed, and gave him a tired smile. "Okay, okay, I'll read the bloody book" Sarah agreed reluctantly.
"Good. You're gonna' be here when I get back, yeah?" he asked.
Sarah shrugged. "Don't know. Probably not" she told him.
Pete nodded. "I'll just give you a ring later then. Have a good night, love" he said before leaning in and kissing her.
"You too" Sarah said, giving him a small wave before he closed the door behind him.
Leaning back against the counter behind her, she cursed to herself. What the hell was she doing?